What is it? This is our recommendation of how to spend each hour when revising. Why? Students can engage in ineffective revision which can limit their performance in examinations. Also, we are aware that it can be challenging to change students’ ingrained study habits. Therefore, we have designed a simple model to help clarify the most effective strategies and what these might look like over a period of an hour. It is our hope that this will help inform all students about the most effective strategies.

It’s important to review the topic which typically begins with locating notes, past work and books. To review topics most effectively, students should: Plan the topic to be revised. Students may be studying a course over a one or two year period. Being clear on the entire content and deciding when to revise each topic is essential. Space out studying. If students are revising a subject, they will maximise their chances of remembering it if they revise all topics over time. ‘Mass’ revision of individual topics all at once is less effective than revising topics ‘little and often’. Revisiting topics at a later point in time, when students may have forgotten some details, has been found to be more effective. Even if it feels frustrating to forget, it’s actually helpful in the learning process. Elaborate. When students are reviewing a topic, passive techniques such as reading and highlighting have been found to be less effective. Instead, students should ensure they are elaborating by transforming information. For example, students should turn text into tables or mindmaps. Also, students can try to explain topics in writing or verbally and check for accuracy. Compiling questions and answers for each topic can be helpful. These activities require thinking about a topic and are much more effective in the learning process.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Therefore, we encourage all students to ensure that each revision hour contains ample opportunity for them to practise what they are likely to face when they are assessed. Test knowledge and practise answers. Knowledge tests allow students to test themselves on the topic to see what they can remember. Importantly, testing brings to mind information which causes learning to take place. Also, students should gather a range of practice questions and tasks and choose one to carry out. Practising answers also causes students to bring to mind information, as well as practising skills such as essay writing, which serve to strengthen memory and learning. Set a timer and recreate exam conditions. Over time, students should aim to time themselves, work in silence and without review notes. Cheating should be avoided as this harms students’ ability to strengthen their memory.

It is really important to get feedback on the accuracy of practice work. Compare answers to the mark scheme. Students should read through mark schemes and check their work to see if they were correct. The process of seeing the correct answers helps to support learning. Students should mark their work in line with the mark scheme, identifying what they did well and what needs more work. Read examiner reports. These are useful documents available from exam boards which provide an overview of how all students handled questions in the particular year of the exam. Many also contain model answers which can be useful to read and compare to. Re-draft. Once students you have marked their work, they should aim to re-draft part or all of it. Now they know the answers or what’s expected, can they re-draft more effectively? Once the hour or period of study is up, it’s important to have a short break before beginning a new topic of study. Students may consider rewarding themselves.